My steps echo throughout the train station of Manehattan; only a few other ponies are here. They don't even bother to look at me. Could I blame them? My name is Travis Goldheart; I'm sort of the only one of my kind, which you may think is cool, but... It sucks. I'm not socially accepted among the other ponies, I was home schooled for crying out loud. It could be the fact that I can perform magic without a horn. I could do that for as long as I remember. I learned from my rescuer that everypony has a little bit of magic inside of them. That’s where the traits of Pegasi and Unicorns come from. The ones that aren’t lucky enough for horns or wings, are inherently stronger than the others.

My rescuer is the only one who cares for me. He's the kindest, most genuine pony I've ever met. His name is Pure Goldheart.. Without him, I'd probably be dead, but some ponies want it that way. I've been told this story by my rescuer plenty of times. I was found if the Everfree forest when I was a foal. He took me in because no one else would. But the news got out a while later. How I was just some wild animal from the Everfree forest, that I was going to grow up into some bloodthirsty creature. As a result of that, I really didn't get out much... I'd spend my days inside.

The brown suitcase I'm carrying is a bit heavy, combined the backpack I'm wearing, is straining some of my arm muscles.

I let out a sigh "This will be sore in the morning."

I put one of my hands in my jean pocket; I feel a slip of paper. This is the ticket my Grandpa gave me. I call Goldheart "Grandpa" because he's the only family I have. Yesterday was my 18th birthday, this was his gift to me.

I can hear the fragile voice of my old man echo through my mind. "You told me that you wanted to go see places, so why not where I grew up? Stay there for at least a year for complete satisfaction!" I smile.

I reach my destination, the toll booth. The dark blue mare behind the counter looks like she's gonna fall asleep on the job. I hand over the ticket without making any eye contact. She'd just insult me anyways. I feel her giving me the stink eye while I'm walking to the open doors to the train.

I place my luggage next to the closest seat on my left, and lean up against the safety pole next to me. The train is going to leave in probably a minute; I'm the only passenger on the train. The metal panels on the floor are bolted in for safety reasons, as well as having a pattern in them. A bolted set of lights are on the roof, going rows of two then stopping at the edge of the roof before continuing on. I can hear a faint noise coming from the PA system, it's a radio broadcast about the "Elements of Harmony."

"Must feel good to have friends." I think.

The doors shut, and the train starts moving. My unzipped hoody and headphones start to sway. I reach over to the right side of my pants to turn on my portable cassette player, my favourite song "Burn my Dread" is already in it. I cover my ears with the cushion like material that my headphones have, and look out of the window at the night sky. The bright lights of the train are a bit distracting to be honest.

I can't help but to think about what happened last night...

[hr]

I was laying down on my bed trying to go to sleep, when Grandpa came into my room. "Travis?" he asked. "Are you awake?"

I let out a yawn whilst stretching "Yeah."

"I think you're mature, and old enough to know this." his horn glows his trademark golden glow; successfully illuminating the room, to bring over an envelope. I take it from the air, and open it casually. The envelope is packed with a folded up piece of paper, a rusted ring, and a picture.

"What's all this for, Grandpa?" I ask taking out the first item.

"Just…. Read it yourself…" My old man falls silent, he can't even look at me. I unfold the piece of tattered paper; making sure not to rip it in the process, and scan over the words written in a blue ink.

"Dear to whoever finds this.

Look after our child his name is 'Travis'. At the moment he is 16 months old. When he's old enough tell him about us, we love you Travis.

From you parents: Maron and Justin." Over a million questions pop into my head at this moment, but the more I think, the angrier I get.

"How long have you had this?" I ask gripping the paper in my hand tighter every second.

"Pardon me?" Grandpa didn't quite hear the question.

"How long have you had this!?" I raise my voice, whist holding up the piece of paper. I feel tears starting to form in my eyes, as I get choked up. He doesn't say anything; all Grandpa does is look down in shame. "I've been looking for answers for my whole life. You, my own Grandfather, didn't even tell me this!" Tears began rolling down my eyes.

"I didn't think you were ready!" Goldheart's voice rose. This shocked me a bit, I'm so used to hearing him quieter. "You know I care about you. I just don't want you to get hurt." I'm slowly regretting the things I said to grandpa. I use my hand to push my black hair to the left side of my face.

"I'm… sorry. I can't think straight at the moment." My hot face cools down to a regular temperature.

"I know you cant. I can only imagine how you're feeling right now." Grandpa walks up to me, stands on his hind hooves, and gives me a hug. The warmth of his fur reminds me of the other times I've needed to be calmed down.

[hr]

I snap back into reality when I almost fall over; but luckily catching the pole behind me. "Reminder, don't do that again." I say out loud. My headphones fell off in the process. Nopony else is on the train, I don't really care anyways. I regain balance as soon as the sliding doors open. 'Time to see my new home.' I grab my things, and make my way out of the train. The echoes of the metal train floor turns into the familiar clapping noise of hollow wood. I cross my arms, and shift my weight as I get a good look at this desolate town. This place is completely different than back home. The buildings are much smaller, with hay being used for the roofing, "I guess nopony's out after dark," I shift my eyes around at the town, "Everything is much smaller than I thought it was going to be..."

I pick my suitcase back up, and open the note I have in my pocket. I scan over the ink quickly, which is hard to do at this time of night, to find out that the house I need to get to is just outside of the town. I place the note back into my pocket, and place my headphones on to my ears. I couldn't hear the train leave behind me, as I step off of the platform. The music is blaring into my ears.

I get a much better look around. Unlike Manehattan, the buildings don't have any lights strung across the tops. I can't even tell what one is supposed to be a store or somepony's house.

Before I know it, I'm outside of the town. I'm currently following a dirt path. I see an old shack off of the path in the distance, it's a little hard to make out what it looks like from here. But, I'm sure that's the place. There's no other house in sight on this open field. I pick up my walking pace, as my arms are getting very tired from my day. I slow my walking pace as I get to the front of the house. The outside of this place is an absolute mess... The wooden walls are cracked and covered in vines. One of the windows on the upper part of the house is smashed, almost like some colts tried to impress somepony by breaking it with a rock or something.

"I'm not sure what I was expecting out of a place that hasn't been used in over twenty years..." I walk up the steps leading to the porch. The floorboards creek as my weight is being applied, it makes me worried that they might just snap from under me. I take my backpack off and place it on the floor, before unzipping the middle pouch of my backpack, I fish around for the house key for a bit. I pull out a silver, rusted key. Unlocking the door is a bit difficult; probably because the lock hasn't been oiled for years.

I open the door just to be hit with a wave of dust, and cobwebs. "Ew, I think it got in my mouth!" I spit rapidly, trying to clear my mouth of the webs that are older than me. The main floor seems run down, but it looks like that the kitchen and the living room are fairly close to each other. It's a bit cramped, but that's understandable as Grandpa did live here by himself. The chipped wood, and paint are the most unappealing part. There's a lot of dust as well, nothing a little bit of spring cleaning can fix. But before I do that, I need some sleep. I let out a yawn. I don't bother to bring my things upstairs because I just want to sleep. I open the first door i see in the hallway to find a bathroom.

"Not what I wanted." I think. I continue down the hall, it's hard to see because of the darkness. the floorboards creak with every step I take; almost like I'm in a horror movie. With a little bit of feeling around, I find another door. Opening it up reveals a room. There's a night stand, next to a king sized bed. On top of the night stand lays a lamp. The nice green drapes covers the windows, also a good sized dresser. "This ought to do for the night." I collapse on the bed, and stare up at the ceiling. "I'll have to tidy the place tomorrow." I let out a sigh, "This will be my new home for one whole year. I hope it'll be a good one," I gradually close my eyes; and with that, I'm out cold...[hr]Meanwhile at Twilight Sparkle's Library:

The lights are dimmed, just enough so that Twilight's assistant will actually get some sleep. The young unicorn has been up all night trying to perfect the newest potion in her "Chemists for the Advanced" book, which she received last Christmas from Spike. She hasn't finished much of the book, only on chapter 6. Most of these potions are just tricks for kids. Making them feel smart for figuring out chemical reactions for the first time. But, Twilight didn't have anything better to do that night. Twilight is always up for a challenge when it comes to academics, always wanting to find ways to improve.

Twilight looks over to the couch close to her, to find her friend, Rainbow Dash, sound asleep. Twilight giggles a bit "I thought you wanted to see the colours, Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow stirs a bit, her ear twitching a little.

"I'm awake, Twilight…. Don't worry…" Rainbow says with a yawn, and readjusting her position to get more comfortable.

"It would help if your eyes were open." Twilight replies with a giggle as her horn starts to glow. Her violet magic wraps around a vial filled with a mysterious green goop. It was some left overs she had from an invisibility potion she developed for Princess Celestia, as a project. Twilight uses her magic to lift the vial and ever so slightly tilts it over the boiling caldron on her work table. A small droplet sinks its way into the bubbling blue liquid. Twilight uses her free hoof to stir the goop with a wooden rod. "Hey, Rainbow Dash. Come and look at this." Twilight invites her friend to see the "Magic" happen.

Rainbow Dash, slumps off the couch, her eyes half lidded. Rainbow looks inside the pot with boredom at first, which turns into interest as the bubbling liquid turns into a purple colour. "Wow…. That was kind of disappointing." Rainbow says to Twilight, not taking her eyes off the caldron.

Twilight sighs, "I told you that this wasn't as interesting as you'd think."

Rainbow Dash turns her head up, and a bit to the left. Trying to look at the old library clock, to check out the time. She squints her eyes to try to make out the time, through the dark lighting.

"12:30 AM." Rainbow mutters out loud.

Her ears perk a bit, as she sees something unusual. It's a pair of teal eyes, no pupils too. Just… Staring at her. Rainbow gasps! She can recognize those eyes anywhere! Her eyes widen!

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash alerts, "There's a Changeling outside!"

Twilight whips her body around to investigate! She sees a bug like tail leave the window as fast as it can.

Without thinking, Rainbow Dash speeds out of the door to catch the spy. Blowing loose paper everywhere from the mighty wing flap.

It takes Twilight a second to realize what exactly is going on.

"Oh no. this was supposed to be a relaxing night!" Twilight runs out of the door, slamming it shut behind her with her magic.

Up in the skies:

Rainbow Dash is hot on the trail of the Changeling. It's easy for her, considering she's the fastest flier in Equestia. The Changeling spy tries to do advanced banks, and loops to throw off its follower, but that doesn't last at all. Rainbow Dash slams into the Changeling at full force. Wrapping her hoofs around its waist, so it cant escape. The Changeling thrashes around in Rainbow's grasp, flailing its fore hooves and legs around. It's trying to hit Rainbow off of it.

The two begin to spiral down towards an old house, just outside of the town.

Travis's House:

I'm walking in a forest, I assume it's the Everfree forest. My clues are that the trees are hanging really low, with the leaves being a dark green. The mud like path squishes under my feet, with roots sticking out from the ground. I really don't like this place. It's dark, hot, somehow really wet, but worst of all, I'm not sure if I'm gonna make it out alive. I've been told by my Grandpa to stay out of here, I don't know why I'm here to begin with. I have my hands in my pocket. I begin to whistle the tune of my favourite song, to bring good luck.

"Dreamless dorm, ticking clock. I walk away, from the soundless room." I start to sing under my breath.

I look at my surroundings as I walk past them. There are small yellow eyes staring at me through the bushes. I look forward and see two shadowy figures in the distance. The difference is, they're…. my species? One of them looked like it had longer hair than the other. I can't say for sure what they look like, as a dark blue fog is covering up their features, but the shape is without a doubt the same as me.

I take steps forward. But, I feel something wrap around my ankle. I look down in confusion to see a branch is straining me. I try stepping forward with my free leg, sticking out my hand, trying to get help.

"NO! Please, don't do this!" I yell. Tears forming in my eyes. The tears are coming down at a fast rate, as I get pulled back into the forest! "Mom! Dad! HELP ME!" I yell to my parents in the distance. They both turn their backs, and begin to walk away. I fall on my back. Trying to break free of the branches grasp. I'm getting pulled into the darkness of the forest!I scream if fear, as I get pulled inside.

I'm alone… again…[hr][b]THUD!!![/b]

I feel the house rumble and shake, as I wake up from that horrible nightmare.

"What the hell?" I say tiredly, while rubbing my head with a hand.

I'm on the ground currently. It must have happened during my sleep. But, falling off my bed couldn't have shaken the whole house? I stand up, and leave the room, hopefully I have a deck. I run down the hallway, looking for a sign of one. I see a double door made from glass. Opening it up to investigate what made that noise.[hr]Outside of the House:

Rainbow Dash and the Changeling crash into the grass, after slamming into the roof of the building close by. The two are surrounded by the shingles of the roof. Rainbow Dash tries to stand up, but is struggling. She took the fall the hardest.

"D-Damn…" Rainbow Dash winces in pain while trying to stand up. Nothing is broken, but she is in pain.

"Oh no… Poor girl." The Changeling mocks, standing up perfectly fine. The Changeling starts to walk into the Everfree forest, a smirk of victory on his face.

"Fight me!" Rainbow Dash yells in anger.

The Changelings laughs, "Do you want to die now?" he whistles out a tune. This is the signal for his partners to emerge from the shadows. Both look the same, including the blood thirsty look in their eyes.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouts from a distance, running to her injured friend. "Stay behind me! I'll take care of these guys!" Twilight's horn begins to glow a sharp, purple colour. "Looks like I'm on the defensive this time." Twilight thinks, making sure she knows where the attackers are.[hr]On the Deck:

I squint my eyes, trying to figure out what's going on in the distance. All I can see is green lights hitting a purple shield. Every time the shield is hit, a flash of white light goes off, laminating all the way up to my house.

"What the hell is going on over there?" I say quietly.

I cant really make out on who's getting attacked. But I think I should help them. I grip the railing in front of me, preparing to hop off.

"But… would they do the same for me?" I say aloud.

I would most likely just be left alone again.

No one likes me…

Why should I help them?

They'd NEVER help me!

I have no one looking out for me!

No one but… Grandpa…

My grip is so tight on the metal railing, that my hands are turning red. I loosen my grip slowly, and look back at the door into my house. I can just walk away, and pretend that I saw nothing.

"I was raised better than this…" I say looking at the ground, "If I'm gonna live on my own. I must take up responsibilities. Its what Grandpa would want." I look up, and turn around to face the open door to the deck.

My face is now filled with determination, as I begin to run full speed outside! I leap from the deck. Using my hands to assist me getting over the handle bars! The wind of the fall pushes my hair up, over my head. I bend my legs as I land, and fall forward. I use my hands to recover before I face plant, just to continue my sprint to the pony in peril.

As I get closer, I see who the attackers are. They're the disgusting, bug like, Changelings that I've read about in "Equestria Monsters: Fast Facts." They're attacking by using green fire spells. Shooting them one after another.

The pony who's being attacked is definitely a Unicorn. It's…. Twilight Sparkle? I look of confusion washes over my face, while closing in on the battle. The Element of Magic herself? I don't believe it! She's protecting, The Element of Loyalty: Rainbow Dash. Why would they be out here at this hour? It must be very important.

Twilight is now starting to struggle as her shield is getting blasted at a rapid rate. She has a look on her face that can be described as anger, and concentration. She doesn't have a way out without dropping the shield, but that would risk her friend getting hurt. Speaking of which, Rainbow Dash looks pretty battered. She's surrounded by shingles… from a roof…. I think that's my roof shingles. That was the noise I heard earlier.

Time to bring out the big guns. I close my eyes while running forward. Focusing on my core, letting out deep breaths.

I feel my energy surging through my body!

A feeling I haven't felt in a long time!

I've activated my magic for the first time in about a year!

I open my eyes. The warm, teal colour has surrounded my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I see both, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow dash looking right at me with confusion.

Time slows down, as I look at Twilight. Her eyebrow is raised, I'm not sure what's more surprising to her? The fact that she's seeing me for the first time in her life? Or, that she's seeing a non-Unicorn using magic.

I quickly hop from the ground, raising my legs to my chest, folding my arms across my chest, and shoving them behind me as fast as possible. I feel the magic induced air gust spell exit my palms, sending me hurdling to the enemy in front of me. Its head turns to me for a split second, his mouth forming these words "What the Fu-"The Changeling interrupted by my body slamming into it!

I topple on top of the Changeling, and we roll for a distance. My face is in the dirt, I look over at my victim to see that it's knocked out.

"What the hell was that?" I hear a man like voice cry out.

I raise my hand to my head, to make sure that I'm not bleeding. I look forward to be greeted by a horn. It's shining green, and not too far ahead. I realize that it's trying to attack me! I place both my hands to the ground, and fire off a quick air gust spell! I get rocketed up a couple of feet. But, I see a green energy ball fly right past where I was. I look at the Changeling that fired off the attack with anger. But a purple energy blast sends it flying before the Changeling could respond. Twilight… was helping me?

I land on my feet, and look for the last Changeling. I see it retreat into the Everfree forest, using its wings. Going really fast I might add.

"That's right! Get out of here! No one messes with the Elements of Harmony!" I celebrate with myself.

I look over at Twilight Sparkle with a smile. She isn't smiling back, to say the least. Her jaw is wide open, as well as her eyes.

"Um… hi." I say rather shyly, waving at her with my left hand, only a little bit. My magic aura fades away, since we're no longer in danger.

"Y-You're… And you can…" She's having trouble finding the right words to use.

"Is your friend alright?" I ask in a bit of a concerned voice. Looking behind Twilight, I see a very…. Angry Rainbow Dash.

"You…" She stands up, wobbling a bit. "You IDIOT!" she yells at me. I flinch back, she's rather hash. "You let it get away!"

"He's a freak, Twilight!" I faintly hear the response from Rainbow dash.

I wipe the tears forming in my eyes while running back to my home. Things were supposed to be different here! This can't be happening all over again. I can't go through this again. I use the air gust spell to hop onto my deck, run inside, shut the door, and lock it.